As the destruction and damage that Ukraine is suffering from the russian invasion accumulates, the problems with waste management and disposal that country faces become ever more acute. In particular, this applies to renewable energy generation units, the disposal of which we still have not thought through. The russian invasion has changed our perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the estimates of the European-Ukrainian Energy Agency, as of March 10, 37% of the ground and 35% of roof\/facade solar panels, 29% of biogas units, 16% of small hydropower generation units and 48% of biomass-powered units were in areas where heavy fighting occurred. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As early as April 2022, only 27% of the total capacity of Ukraine’s wind farms continued to operate, and 47% of the country’s renewable energy capacity were in war zone or in occupied territories, where russian troops have been systematically destroying wind turbines, solar panels, power lines, other power equipment and stealing power plant equipment. According to Artem Semenyshyn, executive director of the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine, russia\u2019s war in Ukraine has also become a war against renewable energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, in Merefa, 30 kilometers from Kharkiv, a Russian missile strike destroyed a solar power plant on the night of May 28. Another power plant \u2013 the largest solar power plant with a capacity of 50 MW, located near Tokmak in Zaporizhia region that has fell under Russian occupation was trashed, dismantled, and stolen by the russian troops. Many wind turbines and solar panels have been partially damaged due to active hostilities, and replacement of damaged parts of installations currently is not possible due to the fact that such installations are not designed for a swift in-situ replacement of parts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Problems of maintenance started piling up as most of the foreign specialists have left Ukraine creating a shortage of qualified personnel on top of disrupted logistics, shortages of the materials needed for the maintenance, and fuel shortages. All this leads to premature damages and the need for decommissioning of power generation units and the consequent need for their safe disposal and replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the near future, we will need many more photovoltaic panels and wind turbines around the world, and the trend toward increasing the use of small and large renewable energy sources is growing sharply. And sooner or later any energy generation unit reaches the end-of-life stage and needs environmentally sound disposal (keep in mind that the average life expectancy of such renewable energy generation installations is 20-30 years, depending on the application, design, and operating conditions), and the recycling of wind and solar energy generations units is a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wind turbines consist of three parts, each with its own specific composition: a tower, a rotor head (nacelle), and rotary blades. The tower is used as a support for the required height for the nacelle and rotor blades and is made predominantly of steel and concrete. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nacelle houses a generator, electrical and mechanical control units, wires, and sensors. Among the materials used in the nacelle are various plastics, copper wires, cast iron, aluminum, and even small amounts of rare elements used in the permanent magnets of electric generators. Rotor blades are usually made of composite materials – fiberglass, polymers, and various metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another big problem is the actual processing of the blades. Due to their design and combination of materials, it is very difficult to separate these materials. And recycled polymers and reinforcing fibers have deteriorated properties compared to primary materials, which limits their further use. For that reason, most of the rotor blades are currently not recycled, but simply dumped in landfills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another problem is the recycling and materials recovery from the nacelle. For example, the recovery of rare earth elements (such as niobium) from the permanent magnets of electric generators. The magnets themselves can be removed and reused directly, but this is a difficult task at the moment, as the generators currently used in wind turbines are not designed to easily remove the magnets. In addition, new generator models may have different requirements for the geometry of the magnets, and therefore it is not always possible to reuse magnets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For photovoltaic modules today, crystalline silicon is the dominant technology, occupying more than 90% of the market. A typical module has a sealed layered structure, where the silicon modules are clamped between two layers of polymer shell and a protective polymer (or sometimes glass) back panel, and a front glass cover facing the sun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another problem with recycling photovoltaic panels is the generation of large amounts of waste, which today is difficult to recycle due to the fact that small particles of silicon combined with water-based cutting fluid can lead to hydrogen formation and dust explosion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, the design of power generation units needs to be changed, first of it applies to solar and wind insulations. The new design should ensure long operation, easy disassembly and replacement of damaged parts, the possibility of use of second-hand parts, and easy recycling of these units. Otherwise, the world will soon drown in end-of-life renewable energy generation units, but will not be able to provide the necessary amount of materials for the production of new wind and solar installations to replace the decommissioned installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the moment the recycling of rare earth elements from permanent magnets is the most urgent issue to be solved – for example, the EU has identified the identification and reuse of rare earth elements in permanent magnet motors as one of the key areas to be addressed in the updated regulation on environmental design of electric motors and variable speed drives. The rules are expected to be updated in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olga Ignatenko, Information Center “Green Dossier’<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2717,"template":"","news-rubrics":[12,66],"class_list":["post-2719","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-rubrics-energy","news-rubrics-chronicles-of-war"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n